so, now you know most of what you need to know about me, mastodon. to sum:

-i have a goat army that will protect #LGBTQIA comrades
-they march to the literal beat of my drums
-after 9 years as a caretaker, i'm now taking care of myself
-i'd be thrilled to see you in one of my streams
-i live in the middle of nowhere
-oh and forgot to mention but i have #ADHD, #Anxiety, am #Bipolar, and am probably way too open about my life for the internet

nice to meet you!

for the final part of this over-extended #introduction, i'd like to introduce you to Goat-Goat.

yes, that is her name. i took care of her as a baby, bc her mother and brother both passed right after she was born. and Goat-Goat is what she responded to, so that's who she is.

she's got a small army of other pygmy goats who roam freely on our farm. and she, too, supports #TransRights.

I also made the decision to purchase a drum set.

I was a drummer from 5th-12th grade, but didn't have a set until I entered high school. played in a band in school as well.

had to sell it for rent in '08. bought one with settlement money from a head injury in '11, sold that one in '12 for rent again.

decided it was time to have that part of me back. did a big reveal on stream for it. #drumming #musician #Persona5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fjtF0KlDA4&feature=youtu.be

with both him and Lucy-dog now gone, it's been very weird to be here in this house alone--a house where i spent 9 years pretty much never leaving my tiny bedroom but now have the whole house to myself.

it's taken months to feel like i actually live here now, rather than just being here for someone else.

took months just to decide and get the nerve to decorate my living room wall/wall behind me when i stream. #guitar #gaming #FinalFantasy #NieR #FFXIV #ProtectTransKids

but it made grandpa proud that i not only stood up when he was getting picked on by the other guys; i also was willing to tell them exactly what they are.

grandpa wasn't perfect. but he was a good guy. he was paranoid bc of the lifelong trauma he carried due to his brother, but ultimately accepted that his grandson, daughter, and son-in-law actually cared about his legacy and protecting what he worked for.

the loudest guy, who owns a propane company outside town, got deep red and screamed at me that ALL migrants--which, he made sure to state explicitly, included children--should be shot on sight at the border.

i called him out as the monster he was, one who claimed to be christian, nothing more than a violent and hateful bigot who's a bigger threat to people than any migrant.

the gas station attendant told *me* to calm down and be civil.

living here in the middle of nowhere, he was the only person i could talk to offline that shared my beliefs.

and i stood up for him.

before the pandemic and mobility issues, he would go into town to drink coffee twice a day with other old farts.

they were all hardcore republicans, and they'd gang up on him, make fun of him, etc for being a democrat.

one day in particular comes to mind...

when i became politically aware/active as a teen, i just presumed he was a republican, because old.

but he voted for Obama, supported Sanders, supported me in getting medicaid expansion passed in my state, believed healthcare should be free and universal, billionaires shouldn't exist, and--as a farmer--that modern big/corpo farming and overuse of chemicals/irrigation is bad.